Tributes Flow For 78er Betty Hounslow: A Force Of Nature
Image: Betty Hounslow. Images: Facebook
Tributes have flown for 78er and human rights activist Betty Hounslow, who died aged 73 on Friday, July 28, 2023.
First Mardi Gras Inc, a community association for 78ers, took to social media to share news of Betty’s passing.
“We are devastated to hear of the passing of Betty Hounslow. Betty had an underlying health condition that took an unexpected turn in recent weeks,” First Mardi Gras Inc said in a statement, adding, “Betty was an absolute icon’.
Betty is survived by her partner Kate Harrison and her sister Mary Hounslow, who were with her when she died.
Member Of Order Of Australia
“A 78er, Betty was actively involved in the protests after the 1978 March and played a significant role in the organisation of the 1981 Mardi Gras Parade. She was an inaugural Management Committee member of First Mardi Gras Inc. and an elected member of the Mardi Gras 78ers Committee. Only a month ago, Betty spoke at our launch of Voices from 1978, having contributed her memories of 1978 to the book,” said First Mardi Gras Inc.
Her commitment to various human rights causes, saw her being part of various groups, including, the Queensland Anti-Freeway Movement, the Queensland Solidarity Group, the New Left Party, Socialist Lesbians, the Gay and Lesbian Immigration Task Force, and the Gay Liberation Quire.
Betty was formerly the Chair of the Asylum Seekers Centre and a Board member of Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA.
Betty was honoured with the Member of the Order of Australia in 2013 for “significant service to the community through organisations promoting social justice, Indigenous health and human rights”.
Betty Hounslow – A Life-long Activist
In the early 1970s, she was granted another honour – a Sister of Mercy, she was officially canonised by Mother Inferior of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, as Saint Betty Therese of the Holy Face (of Jesus), for her work on gay and lesbian immigration, according to First Mardi Gras Inc.
“Betty was a force of nature in all her activist and professional endeavours and will be greatly missed,” the organisation added.
Union Aid Abroad, on whose board Betty served since 2018, remembered her as a “tenacious advocate for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers.”
“Betty spent her whole life being an activist for LGBTQI+ rights and is acknowledged as a pioneer for human rights in Australia, as one of the 78’ers who organised Sydney’s first Mardi Gras. She was a lifelong trade unionist and social justice advocate… We will remember Betty for her generosity, her warm heart and her fighting spirit,” Union Aid Abroad added in a tribute.
Betty served on the board of the Asylum Seekers Centre for over a decade, including as Chair from 2018 to 2021. In 2003, Betty was awarded the Justice Medal. “The Medal recognised her success in lobbying for changes to legislation regarding gay and lesbian immigration,” said ASC.
